A commonly-assigned copending application Ser. No. 11/709,672, filed Feb. 23, 2007, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference, describes an electrode configuration and procedure for use for topical application to the tissue surface or skin of a patient for the non-ablative treatment of periorbital rhytides and midface laxity or in general removal of wrinkles or other cosmetic skin tightening procedures to improve the appearance of skin tissue.
In this radio-frequency (RF) non-ablative tissue surface treatment, it is desirable to raise the tissue temperature to about 41-65° C. to affect underlying skin collagen to tighten the surface tissue, being careful to avoid overheating the skin tissue possibly causing burns and residual scarring. To achieve this result, this prior application describes the use of specially configured electrodes to provide a reasonably uniform electric field distribution at the skin surface, pre-applying to the skin a thermal gel, a known thermally and electrically-conductive material, to help cool the surface, using low RF power, relying on the natural cooling provided by a highly conductive electrode material, and continuously manually moving the activated electrode while in contact with the skin.
A later-filed commonly-assigned copending application Ser. No. 12/012,447, filed Feb. 4, 2008, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference, describes further RF handpieces for RF skin tightening incorporating skin temperature sensors and/or movable electrodes and/or dual electrode arrangements which can be used to spread the skin heating and to sense skin temperature to avoid overheating the skin tissue.
In the execution of such skin tightening procedures, typically the physician or other practitioner employs a foot switch to energize the handpiece which simultaneously energizes the active electrode surface of the supported electrode. An electrical shock may be felt by the patient as the energized electrode surface makes or breaks contact with the skin, as the voltage potential applied to the electrode by the RF generator is usually great enough to cause dielectric breakdown of the small air gap created when the active electrode surface is close to but not in actual physical contact with the patient's skin. This shock can cause significant discomfort to the patient.